Community Partners Programs

Community Partners

Community Programs

Landscaping/Maintenance

Since 1999, Buckhead CID has partnered with a landscape services provider to assist in the maintenance, care and housekeeping of exterior landscaped medians, concrete medians, bridge overpasses, underpasses and pedestrian islands in the following locations:

Buckhead CID, in partnership with the Atlanta Police Department (APD) and the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF), has installed a wireless network-based public safety surveillance system as part of Operation Shield that enables the Atlanta Police Department and the Atlanta Police Video Integration Center to proactively provide police services to the community. The camera system also provides real-time situational awareness of key areas within the CID and records camera images for post-incident investigation.

Traffic Officers

Buckhead CID has spent more than $2.5 million since 2005 to place off-duty Atlanta Police Department officers along Buckhead’s busiest corridors during peak traffic times. This initiative reduces vehicle idling, improves traffic flow, keeps the intersections clear and assists pedestrians in moving safely about the area. In addition, Buckhead CID has placed additional off-duty Atlanta Police officers at key intersections around Lenox and Phipps Malls since 2003 to address the increase in vehicle traffic and pedestrian movement during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Georgia Works

In January 2014, the Buckhead CID partnered with local nonprofit Georgia Works! to keep Buckhead clean. Georgia Works!, a newly created 501(c)(3), is a proven homelessness intervention and employment program with the goal of offering homeless men an opportunity to work, earn a paycheck and change their habits and mindset from dependency to self-sufficiency.

The men who are accepted into this program must make several commitments to the organization:

Remain drug free – program members are drug tested twice a week

Work 30-35 hours a week

End reliance on public assistance

Save 20% of income

Pay room and board

In order for this program to be successful, Georgia Works! needs local partners who will provide work opportunities to the program participants. Buckhead CID saw the great potential of this outstanding program and the important mission behind it to allow homeless men to become self-sufficient, and identified an opportunity that would help to keep Buckhead clean and meet the needs of Georgia Works!

Participants from the program work with the Buckhead CID on maintenance initiatives, and are extremely productive. They proactively seek out areas and types of issues that need attention and continue to make an impact on keeping Buckhead clean through trash pick-up, graffiti removal and painting.

LBI “strives to ensure the long term vitality and prosperity of the Buckhead community by working cooperatively with individuals, public entities and private businesses to integrate into everyday life and business sustainable strategies that improve the environment and quality of life in the community.”

Among the services and programs offered by LBI, they work cooperatively with community and regional partners to improve mobility, accessibility and air quality in Buckhead by sponsoring programs and providing incentives to encourage commuters to take transit, carpool, vanpool, telework, and bike and walk to work.

“the buc”

Financed entirely by Buckhead CID and managed by Livable Buckhead (“LBI”), “the buc” is a fast, frequent, FREE shuttle service that connects MARTA riders with key Buckhead destinations, including local office buildings and shopping locales.

Making frequent stops during commute hours, “the buc”is the best way for transit riders to make the “last mile” connection to their location. There’s no cost, just hop on the shuttle and let someone else worry about the traffic.

Buckhead CID Traffic Model

For almost everything we do, we are reacting to conditions, problems or events as we develop solutions, projects and programs. We are pleased with what we have done so far. But it would be far better if we could anticipate the future and plan to get ahead of what will likely occur through development. Being able to test “what if?” scenarios involving real estate development and infrastructure improvement would give us the best chance of maximizing the return on our investment.

The Buckhead CID developed a transportation and land use model of the entire CID area.

The model allows Buckhead CID to test numerous hypothetical transportation and land use scenarios, such as the impact of adding a new roadway link, evaluating new development impacts, exploring signal timing optimization or transit route operations.

The model allows us to evaluate both the area-wide (mesoscopic) and detailed (microscopic) impacts any future land use and roadway or transit improvements may have on the entire network. Simulations are used to help identify traffic growth and changing land use impacts and make it easier for stakeholders to decide how to best allocate and prioritize transportation and other investments.

SPI-9

Buckhead CID partnered with the City of Atlanta, Livable Buckhead, commercial property owners and local residents through Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) B to update a special public interest zoning ordinance (SPI-9) that covers a significant part of the Buckhead commercial area west of Piedmont Avenue and north of Pharr Road. Buckhead CID paid for the work, leveraging additional funds from an Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative grant.

The new zoning, adopted by Atlanta City Council on October 4, 2010, set the stage for a more walkable, village-scale, urban community enriched with public art and parks, wide sidewalks, greenspace, transportation options and outdoor dining. The new district enhances existing regulations by clearly defining street treatments, facades, sidewalk widths, signage, greenspace and other public elements to create a cohesive community feel and helps developers position their developments with consideration of public spaces.

Similar to the SPI-9 zoning, Buckhead CID partnered with the City of Atlanta, Livable Buckhead, commercial property owners and local residents through Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) B to update a special public interest zoning ordinance (SPI-12) that covers the core Buckhead commercial area east of Piedmont Avenue and north of Peachtree Road. This area includes two regional malls (Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza), high-rise office buildings and two MARTA rail transit stations. Buckhead CID paid for the consulting work, leveraging additional funds from an Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative program grant.

The updated zoning for the area promotes the district as a lifelong living community by accentuating Peachtree Road as the prominent boulevard and creating vibrant streets throughout the district. The zoning will improve connectivity through an improved street network that facilitates safe and convenient pedestrian circulation while minimizing conflict between pedestrians and vehicles. The zoning will encourage dense, sustainable and environmentally-sensitive development, including diverse housing options and open public spaces. In fact, the zoning minimizes excessive parking requirements and encourages shared parking for open public spaces. The overall aesthetic of the commercial environment will be improved while protecting the adjacent single-family residential neighborhoods that adjoin the district.